m hall surely taste the painful torment of hell; aud ye shall not be rewarded, ut according to your works. But as for the sincere servants of God, they hall have a certain provision in paradise, namely, delicious fruits: and iney shall be honoured: they shall be placed in gardens of pleasure, leaning on couches, opposite to one another: a cup shall be carried round unto them, filled from a limpid fountain, for the delight of those who drink it shall not oppress the understanding, neither shall they be inebriated therewith. And near them shall lie the virgins of paradise, refraining their looks from beholding any besides their spouses, having large black eyes, und resembling the eggs of an ostrich covered with feathers from the dust." And they shall turn the one unto the other, and shall ask one another questions. And one of them shall say, Verily I had an intimate friend while I lived in the world, who said unto me, Art thou one of those who assertest the truth of the resurrection? After we shall be dead, and reduced to dust and bones, shall we surely be judged? Then he shall say to his companions, Will ye look down? And he shall look down, and shall see him in the midst of hell: and he shall say unto him, By GoD, it wanted little but thou hadst drawn me into ruin and had it not been for the grace of my LORD, I had surely been one of those who have been delivered up to eternal torment. Shall we die any other than our first death; or do we suffer any punishment? Verily this is great felicity: for the obtaining a felicity like this let the labourers labour. Is this a better entertainment, or the tree of al Zakkum ?" Verily we have designed the same for an occasion of dispute unto the unjust.* It is a tree which issueth from the bottom of hell: the fruit thereof resembleth the heads of devils; and the damned shall eat of the same, and shall fill their bellies therewith; and there shall be given them thereon a mixture of filthy and boiling water to drink afterwards shall they return into hell. They found their fathers going astray, and they trod hastily in their footsteps: for the greater part of the ancients erred before them. And we sent warners unto them heretofore and see how miserable was the end of those who were warned; except the sincere servants of GOD. Noah called on us in former days: and we heard him graciously and we delivered him and his family out of the great distress. and we caused his offspring to be those who survived to people the earth See chap. 15, p. 212, note h. This may seem an odd comparison to an European; but the orientals think nothing comes so near the colour of a fine woman's skin as that of an ostrich's egg, when kept perfectly clean. There is a thorny tree so called, which grows in Tehâma, and bears fruit like an almond, but extremely bitter; and therefore the same name is given to this infernal tree. The infidels not conceiving how a tree could grow in hell, where the stones themselves serve for fuel. How different is the tree al Zakkum from the abode of Eden! We have planted it for the torment of the wicked.”—Savary. Or of serpents ugly to behold: the original word signifies both. Some suppose that the entertainment above-mentioned will be the welcome given the damned before they enter that place; and others, that they will be suffered to come out of hell from time to time, to drink their scalding liquor. and we left the following salutation to be bestowed on him by the latest posterity, namely, Peace be on Noah among all creatures! Thus do we reward the righteous; for he was one of our servants the true believers. Afterwards we drowned the others. Abraham also was of his religion :' when he came unto his LORD with a perfect heart. When he said unto his father and his people, What do ye worship? Do ye choose false gods preferably to the true GOD? What therefore is your opinion of the LORD of all creatures? And he looked and observed the stars, and said, Verily I shall be sick, and shall not assist at your sacrifices: and they turned their packs and departed from him." And Abraham went privately to their gods, and said scoffingly unto them, Do ye not eat of the meat which is set before you? What aileth you that ye speak not? And he turned upon them, and struck them with his right hand, and demolished them. And the people came hastily unto him: and he said, Do ye worship the images which ye carve? whereas God hath created you, and also that which ye make. They said, Build a pile for him, and cast him into the glowing fire. And they devised a plot against him; but we made them the inferior, and delivered him. And Abraham said, Verily I am going unto my LORD," who will direct me. O LORD, grant me a righteous issue. Wherefore we acquainted him that he should have a son, who should be a meek youth. And when he had attained to years of discretion, and could join in acis of religion with him, Abraham said unto him, O my son, verily I saw in a dream that I should offer thee in sacrifice: consider therefore what thou art of opinion I should do. He answered, O my father, do what thou art For Noah and he agreed in the fundamental points both of faith and practice; though the space between them was no less than 2640 years." He made as if he gathered so much from the aspect of the heavens (the people being greatly addicted to the superstitions of astrology), and made it his excuse for being absent from their festival, to which they had invited him. Fearing he had some contagious distemper.' See chap. 21, p. 268, &c. i. e. Whither he hath commanded me. "We foretold unto him a son, who should be endowed with wisdom."-Savary. He was then thirteen years old." The commentators say, that Abraham was ordered in a vision, which he saw on the eighth night of the month Dhu'lhajja, to sacrifice his son; and to assure him that this was not from the devil, as he was inclined to suspect, the same vision was repeated a second time the next night, when he knew it to be from God; and also a third time the night following, when he resolved to obey it, and to sacrifice his son: and hence some think the 8th, 9th, and 10th days of Dhu'lhajja are called Yawm alterwiya, yawm arafat, and yawm alnehr, that is, the day of the vision, the day of knowledge, and the day of the sacrifice. It is the most received opinion among the Mohammedans, that the son whom Abraham offered was Ismael, and not Isaac; Ismael being his only son at that time: for the promise of Isaac's birth is mentioned lower, as subsequent in time to this transaction. They also allege the testimony of their prophet, who is reported to have said, I am the son of the two who were offered in sacrifice; meaning his great ancestor, Ismael, and his own father Abd'allah: for Abd'almotalleb had made a vow, that if God would permit him to find out and open the well Zemzem, and should give him ten sons, he would sacrifice one of them accordingly, when he had obtained his desire in both respects, he cast lots on his sons, and the lot falling on Abd'allah, he redeemed him by offering an hundred camels which was therefore ordered to be the price of a man's blood in the Sonna." • Al Beidâwi. ' Idem. • Idem. Idem, Jallalo'ddin. al Zamakh. commanded thou shalt find me, if GoD please, a patient person. And when they had submitted themselves to the divine will, and Abraham had laid his son prostrate on his face, we cried unto him, O Abraham, now hast thou verified the vision. Thus do we reward the righteous. Verily this was a manifest trial. And we ransomed him with a noble victim. And we left the following salutation to be bestowed on him by the latest posterity, namely, Peace be on Abraham! Thus do we reward the righteous: for he was one of our faithful servants. And we rejoiced him with the promise of Isaac, a righteous prophet; and we blessed him and Isaac: and of their offspring were some righteous doers, and others who manifestly injured their own souls. We were also gracious unto Moses and Aaron, heretofore and we delivered them and their people from a great distress. And we assisted them against the Egyptians; and they became the conquerors. And we gave them the perspicuous book of the law, and we directed them into the right way, and we left the following salutation to be bestowed on them by the latest posterity, namely, Peace be on Thus do we reward the righteous; for they were two of our faithful servants. And Elias was also one of those who were sent by us. When he said unto his people, Do ye not fear God? Do ye invoke Baal, and forsake the most excellent Creator? God is your LORD, and the LORD of your forefathers. But they accused him of imposture wherefore they shall be delivered up to eternal punishment; except the sincere servants of GOD. And we left the following salutation to be bestowed on him by the latest posterity, namely, Peace be on Ilyasin! Thus do we reward une righteous: for he was one of our faithful servants. And Lot was also one of those who were sent by us. When we delivered Moses and Aaron! b The commentators add, that Abraham went so far as to draw the knife with all his strength across the lad's throat; but was miraculously hindered from hurting him.10 The epithet of great, or noble, is here added, either because it was large and fat, or be. cause it was accepted as the ransom of a prophet. Some suppose this victim was a ram, and, if we may believe a common tradition, the very same which Abel sacrificed, having been brought to Abraham out of Paradise: others fancy it was a wild-goat, which came down from mount Thabîr, near Mecca: for the Mohammedans lay the scene of this transaction in the valley of Mina; as a proof of which they tell us that the horns of the victim were hung up on the spout of the Caaba, where they remained till they were burnt, together with that building, in the days of Abd'allah Ebn Zobeir; though others assure us that they had been before taken down by Mohammed himself, to remove all occasion of idolatry.2 This prophet the Mohammedans generally suppose to have been the same with al Khedr, and confound him with Phineas, and sometimes with Edris, or Enoch. Some say he was the son of Yasin, and nearly related to Aaron; and others suppose him to have been a different person. He was sent to the inhabitants of Baalbec in Syria, the Heliopolis of the Greeks, to reclaim them from the worship of their idol Baal, or the sun, whose name makes part of that of the city, which was anciently called Becc. The commentators do not well know what to make of this word. Some think it is the plural of Elias, or, as the Arabs write it, Ilyâs, and that both that prophet and his fol. lowers, or those who resembled him, are meant thereby others divide the word, and read âl Yasin i. e. the family of Yasin, who was the father of Elias, according to an opinion mentioned above: and others imagine it signifies Mohammed, or the Koran, or some other book of scripture. But the most probable conjecture is, that Ilyas or Ilyâsin are the same name, or design one and the same person, as Sinai and Sinin denote one and the same mountain; the last syllable being added here, to keep up the rhyme, or cadence, at the close of the verse. 10 Al Beidâwi, Jallalo'ddin. See chap. 18, p. 244, note x. 1 lidem. * him and his whole family, except an old woman, his wife, who perished among those that remained behind: afterwards we destroyed the others. And ye, O people of Mecca, pass by the places where they once dwelt, as ye journey in the morning, and by night; will ye not therefore understand? Jonas was also one of those who were sent by us. When he fled into the loaded ship; and those who were on board cast lots among themselves," and he was condemned: and the fish swallowed him; for he was worthy of reprehension. And if he had not been one of those who praised GOD,* verily he had remained in the belly thereof until the day of resurrection. And we cast him on the naked shore, and he was sick :1 and we caused a plant of a gourd to grow up over him; and we sent him to an hundred thousand persons, or they were a greater number, and they believed: wherefore we granted them to enjoy this life for a season. Inquire of the Meccans whether thy LORD hath daughters, and they sons? Have we created the angels of the female sex? and were they witnesses thereof? Do they not say of their own false invention, God hath begotten issue? and are they not really liars? Hath he chosen daughters preferably to sons? Ye have no reason to judge thus. Will ye therefore not be admonished? Or have ye a manifest proof of what ye say? Produce now your book of revelations, if ye speak truth. And they make him to be of kin unto the genii; whereas the genii know that they who affirm such things See chap. 7, p. 125, &c. and chap. 11, p. 183, &c. See chap. 10, p. 173. 'See chap. 21, p. 271. Al Beidawi says the ship stood stock still, wherefore they concluded that they had a fugitive servant on board, and cast lots to find him out. h i. e. He was taken by the lot. When the lot fell on Jonas, he cried out, I am the fugitive; and immediately threw himself into the sea. The words seem to relate particularly to Jonas's supplication while in the whale's belly. By reason of what he had suffered; his body becoming like that of a new-born child.' It is said that the fish, after it had swallowed Jonas, swam after the ship with its head above water, that the prophet might breathe; who continued to praise God till the fish came to land and vomited him out. The opinions of the Mohammedan writers, as to the time Jonas continued in the fish's belly, differ very much: some suppose it was a part of a day; others three days, others seven, others twenty, and others forty." *The fish which had swallowed him threw him upon the sand, overwhelmed with sufferings."-Savary. The original word properly signifies a plant which spreads itself upon the ground, having no erect stalk or stem to support it, and particularly a gourd; though some imagine Jonas's plant to have been a fig, and others the small tree or shrub called Mauz. which bears very large leaves, and excellent fruit. The commentators add, that this plant withered the next morning, and that Jonas being much concerned at it. God made a remonstrance to him in behalf of the Ninevites, agreeable to what is recorded in scripture. See chap. 16, p. 218. That is, the angels, who are also comprehended under the name of genii, being a species of them. Some say that the infidels went so far as to assert that God and the devil were brothers; which blasphemous expression may have been occasioned by the magian notions. See chap. 21, p. 271. Jallalo'ddin, al Beidâwi. shall be delivered up to eternal punishment; (far be that from God, which they affirm of him!) except the sincere servants of GOD.* Moreover ye and that which ye worship shall not seduce any concerning God, except him who is destined to be burned in hell. There is none of us but hath an appointed place: we range ourselves in order, attending the commands of God; and we celebrate the divine praise. The infidels said, If we had been favoured with a book of divine revelations, of those which were delivered to the ancients, we had surely been sincere servants of GOD: yet now the Koran is revealed, they believe not therein; but hereafter shall they know the consequence of their unbelief. Our word hath formerly been given unto our servants the apostles; that they shall certainly be assisted against the infidels, and that our armies should surely be the conquerors. Turn aside therefore from them, for a season: and see the calamities which shall afflict them; for they shall see thy future success and prosperity. Do they therefore seek to hasten our vengeance? Verily when it shall descend into their courts, an evil morning shall it be unto those who were warned in vain. Turn aside from them therefore for a season, and see: hereafter shall they see thy success and their punishment. Praise be unto thy LORD, the LORD who is far exalted above what they affirm of him! And peace be on his apostles! And praise be unto GOD, the LORD of all creatures! CHAPTER XXXVIII. INTITLED, S.; REVEALED AT MECCA. IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. S. By the Korân full of admonition. Verily the unbelievers are addicted to pride and contention. How many generations have we destroyed before them; and they cried for mercy, but it was not a time to escape. "The impious pretend that God hath had intercourse with the angels; and the angels know that the impious shall be the prey of flames. Praise be to the Eternal! Far be their blasphemies from him. His faithful servants alone are entitled to speak of him.”— Savary. ▸ These words are supposed to be spoken by the angels, disclaiming the worship paid to them by the idolaters, and declaring that they have each their station and office appointed them by God, whose commands they are at all times ready to execute, and whose praises they continually sing. There are some expositors, however, who think they are the words of Mohammed and his followers; the meaning being, that each of them has a place destined for him in paradise, and that they are the men who range themselves in order Defore God, to worship and pray to him, and who celebrate his praise, by rejecting every false notion derogatory to the divine wisdom and power. + "Shun the infidels until the time. Look on them: one day their eyes shall be opened. Do they desire to hasten our vengeance? When the hour shall knock at their gate, terible shall be their awakening. Fly them until the appointed hour."-Savary. The meaning of this letter is unknown: some guess it stands for Sidk, i. e. Truth ; or for Sadaka, i. e. he (viz. Mohammed) speaketh the truth; and others propose different conjectures, all equally uncertain. Something must be understood to answer this oath, which the commentators variously supply. See the Prelim. Disc. sect. iii. p. 42, &c. |